The Boy At The Top Of The Mountain

When Pierrot becomes an orphan, he must leave his home in Paris for a new life with his Aunt Beatrix, a servant in a wealthy household at the top of the German…

“An effective and elegant work. Comparisons to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas are inevitable, but also merited: this is a new fable about a boy in wartime that invites us to reflect on the best and worst of human nature.”

– The Irish Times

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Youth Novels

The Boy At The Top Of The Mountain

When Pierrot becomes an orphan, he must leave his home in Paris for a new life with his Aunt Beatrix, a servant in a wealthy household at the top of the German mountains. But this is no ordinary time, for it is 1935 and the Second World War is fast approaching; and this is no ordinary house, for this is the Berghof, the home of Adolf Hitler.

Quickly, Pierrot is taken under Hitler’s wing, and is thrown into an increasingly dangerous new world: a world of terror, secrets and betrayal, from which he may never be able to escape.

Shortlisted for Irish Book Award: Children’s Book of the Year

Shortlisted for Children’s Books Ireland Book of the Year

Nominated for the 2017 Carnegie Medal

Reviews

Boyne cleverly intersects his new book with The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in ways that are largely inconsequential to either story, but provide a nice touch of recognition for those who have read the earlier work and tangibly places both novels in the same world. While both books are emotionally powerful and moving works eminently suitable for both young adult and adult readers, it's this second novel that delves more deeply into the psyche of a brutal regime, the intoxicating lure of unquestioning power to the young mind and the deep regrets that are the consequence of not staying true to oneself.

Sydney Morning Herald

Impossible to put down. Devastating and devastatingly good.

The Times

An effective and elegant work. Comparisons to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas are inevitable, but also merited: this is a new fable about a boy in wartime that invites us to reflect on the best and worst of human nature.

The Irish Times

Boyne is at his best when examining guilt and culpability. The epilogue, a mere ten pages, culminates in a discovery so perfectly simple, and yet so unexpected, that it will remain with you for days.

The Independent

A compelling account of the attractions of power, the malleability of youth and the terrible pain of a life filled with regret.

The Guardian

Disturbingly vivid, utterly readable and appealing to audiences of all ages.

The Bookbag

There is a sureness and a simplicity to the writing that is very impressive . . . In The Boy at the Top of the Mountain, Boyne has delivered a powerful account of how one boy was seduced by Hitler and Nazism and paid the price. The final pages, in which he meets the Jewish friend of his boyhood and seeks redemption, are very moving. Younger readers will lament the corruption of Pierrot; older ones will perceive what Boyne is trying to tell us: if this could happen to Pierrot, it could happen to us.